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Robert Bucker, PSU's new dean of the College of the Arts.Portland State University

Portland State University has appointed Robert Bucker dean of the recently created College of the Arts. Bucker, who has 40 years of experience in fine and performing arts, will oversee a college that includes the School of Architecture, School of Art and Design, School of Music, and School of Theatre and Film. Bucker succeeds Barbara Sestak, who has returned to her academic program, architecture.

Bucker takes over a college housed primarily in two recently renovated buildings: Lincoln Hall and Shattuck Hall. The College of the Arts, formerly known as the School of Fine and Performing Arts, has 2,750 students majoring in arts programs. Architecture, film and graphic design are among the college's rapidly growing programs.

Bucker was Dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication at California State University. He began his career as a middle school and high school vocal music teacher and choral director in Missouri. He served as the director of education for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the voice chairman and choral conductor for the Presidential Scholars in the Arts program, founded by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Prior to his current position, he was the dean of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Peck School of the Arts, and dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.